Pictured: Travis Logie in action on his way to 5th place and 2 275 points in the Quiksilver Pro Durban at Ansteys in April Photo: Ewing / Quiksilver

Travis Logie heads SA contingent on ASP World Qualifying SeriesTravis Logie continues to head the South African challenge on the ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) after placing ninth in the 5-Star rated Relentless Boardmasters in Newquay, England, last Friday.

After the completion of 22 of the 42 stops on The Grind, as the gruelling WQS is known, Logie occupies No. 12 position in the rankings and given the 30-year-old Durbanite’s previous record in the European events, he looks well placed to regain his place amongst the world’s top 45 ranked surfers on the 2010 ASP World Tour.

Logie spent four years on the Dream Tour before failing to re-qualify at the end of 2008 but has shown he still has the ability and determination to succeed at the highest level of competition surfing by winning an event in Australia earlier this year and subsequently posting consistently high finishes in major WQS events.

He will be targeting the back to back 6-Star rated events scheduled for Lacanau, France, and the Azores Island off the coast of Portugal later in August before consecutive 6 Stars in Brazil – Guaruja and Rio de Janeiro – in September / October before the final flurry of 6-Star Prime rated events, which carry a bonus 40% increase in ratings points, in the Canaries and California (overlapping) and two in Hawaii – Haleiwa and Sunset Beach.

Logie has competed in 12 WQS events this year, the most by any of the 65 ASP Africa members in the WQS rankings, accumulating 10 013 points at an average of 1 430 per event for his best seven results to date. He will be looking to improve on his lowest scores of 875, 1 100 and 1 125 in the upcoming events to maintain a position in the top 15 on the yearend WQS ratings and automatically qualify for the following year’s ASP World Tour.

ASP Africa champion for 2009, Royden Bryson who, like Logie, dropped off the ASP World Tour at the end of last year, is the next highest placed Saffa in the latest rankings. The former East Londoner relocated to Cape Town a couple of years back and is currently No. 35 with 7 951 points but has three low scores of under 1 000 to improve upon.

Close behind Bryson is Brandon Jackson (Durban North) with 7 738 points in 37^th spot while Durban’s Warwick Wright is the only other Saffa currently in the top 50 at No. 46 with 7 069 points.

Australia’s Daniel Ross, another who failed to re-qualify for the Dream Tour this year, has had a phenomenal year on the WQS, breaking the record set by Jordy Smith (Durban) in winning the 2007 WQS title by amassing 14 975 points at an average of 2 139 per event to assure his place at the top table of competitive surfing in 2010.

Ross is followed in the current rankings by Jadson Andre (Brazil), winner of the 6-Star Prime rated Quiksilver Pro Durban in April, Australians Adam Melling and Owen Wright, who is ranked fourth despite having only competed in six events, and recent Hurley US Open winner Brett Simpson (USA).

Patrick Gudauskas (USA), Matt Wilkinson and fellow Australian Blake Thornton, winner of the O’Neill Coldwater Classic in Cape Town in June, Tanner Gudauskas (USA), winner of the Mr Price Pro Ballito in July, and Joan Duru (FRA) round out the current WQS top 10.

ASP World Qualifying Series

Ratings after Relentless Boardmasters in Newquay (Stop No. 22 of 42)

1        Ross,Daniel                     AUS    14975
2        Andre,Jadson               BRA    13350
3        Melling,Adam               AUS    12051
4       Wright,Owen                  AUS    11963
5       Simpson,Brett               USA    11863
6       Gudauskas,Patrick      USA    11513
7       Wilkinson,Matt            AUS    11500
8       Thornton,Blake            AUS    10713
9       Gudauskas,Tanner      USA    10700
10     Duru,Joan                     FRA    10675

South Africans (Top 150)

12        Logie,Travis                ZAF     10013
35        Bryson,Royden          ZAF     7951
37        Jackson,Brandon      ZAF     7738
46        Wright,Warwick         ZAF     7069
52        Palmboom,Rudy        ZAF     6689
69        Fahrenfort,Damien   ZAF     6114
78        Redman,Daniel           ZAF     5726
86        Basnett,Ricky              ZAF     5276
87        Bortoletto,Antonio  ZAF     5220
115     Strachan,Klee               ZAF     4406
150     Holmes,Sean                ZAF     3338

ends

Issued on behalf of:

ASP Africa
Contact: Colin Fitch – Operations Manager
Tel:  021 534 5738
Email:  aspafrica@mweb.co.za

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About ASP:
The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) is the governing body of professional surfing. Crowning surfing’s undisputed world champions since 1976, the ASP sanctions the following tours: the ASP World Tour, the ASP Women’s World Tour, the World Qualifying Series (WQS) and the World Longboarding, Junior and Masters Championships. The ASP is dedicated to showcasing the world’s best surfing talent in a variety of progressive formats and has revolutionized the way the world watches surfing via their webcasts. The organization is divided into seven different regions: Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, Hawaii, North America, and South America.